Rear bushes

[nick]

I'm fitting rear bushes all around. I was able to press out the old ones from the cross arm with an arbor press. But when I tried to press in the new one I started to tear the rubber on the edge before the bush went into the hole even though I lubbed it with soap. Any tricks on getting those pressed in without damaging them? I tore the old ones coming out.

nick

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Go to my download site and download TR7man.pdf

Then look on page 275 of the pdf, 257 is the corresponding page in the manual.

I have only fitted poly bushings and there is a trick to that. The trick with the rubber is translating the British shop manual when it says "Install blank-a-dee-blank" because it will always require some special tool that is not listed and the help of two men and a small boy.

jclay

[url="http://web.mac.com/jclaythompson/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html"]My Triumph Site[/url], [url="http://web.mac.com/jclaythompson/iWeb/Technical/Intro.html"]Technical Stuff[/url], [url="http://homepage.mac.com/WebObjects/FileSharing.woa/53/wo/HJMTK8gsojtwKleP.1/0.2.1.2.26.31.97.0.35.0.1.1.1?user=jclaythompson&fpath=Triumph_Articles&templatefn=FileSharing4.html"]Download Page[/url]

[danny]

Hi,
When I pressed mine in using the bench vice I lubed them with a smear of brake fluid.




Danny
1980 TR7 fhc <b><font color="green">Brooklands green</font id="green"></b>
1967 Spitfire Mk3 <b><font color="red">Signal red</font id="red"></b>
1953 Ford Anglia E494A <b><font color="black">Black</font id="black"></b>
View my Blog http://www.waringstowntr7s.co.uk/blogs/index.php/danny
http://tr7-n-spitfire.blogspot.com/

[nick]

I have used various lubes myself including WD40 for this job but I'm never sure which ones promote deterioration of the rubber. The soap thing doesn't seem to work. Vaseline might be a good option.

nick

[danny]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">but I'm never sure which ones promote deterioration of the rubber. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

The reason for using brake fluid is because it will not affect the rubber, it does not do your newly painted surfaces much good though.




Danny
1980 TR7 fhc <b><font color="green">Brooklands green</font id="green"></b>
1967 Spitfire Mk3 <b><font color="red">Signal red</font id="red"></b>
1953 Ford Anglia E494A <b><font color="black">Black</font id="black"></b>
View my Blog http://www.waringstowntr7s.co.uk/blogs/index.php/danny
http://tr7-n-spitfire.blogspot.com/

[nick]

OK thanks for the tip about brake fluid. I'll give it a shot.

nick

[Underdog]

I would try silicone grease myself. Sure works good on the poly bushes.

Wonder if you put a hose clamp around the raised bit just to compress it and get it started?

Jim Underwood
72 MGB BRG
80 TR8 Persian Aqua
If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

[fastman]

Liquid dish soap and a very clean (sanded of burrs) parts worked for me.

[nick]

I have had no luck with this. I'm using the hard black (not poly) bushes that Rimmer sells. I have buggered one completely. I'm using an arbor press and when I try to press in the bush it always goes in crooked. The few times I could keep it straight it would not go in without cutting the edges. I was thinking of taking them to a machine shop to see if he has any tricks.

nick

[nick]

I woke up this morning with an idea. Maybe freezing the bushes will shrink them a little and stiffen them so they don't swell so much when pressure is applied with the press. Of course the flanges will be stiffer as well making them less compliant and requiring higher pressure to fit the hole. We will see.

nick

[pupinabox]

You beat me to it!!! I had that idea also, I am going to be doing mine soon and figure on trying it. Let us know how that works.

[nick]

It is unclear whether or not the freezing idea worked. I did manage to get two out of the four installed without damage. Of the remaining two, one was damaged so badly I had to throw it away. The other went in but part of the outer flange ripped off. To get the car back on the road, I reinstalled one of the old ones. They weren't in bad shape and knowing what I know now I would have never started this job.
Bottom line on this is you have to have good lubrication. Also clean with sand paper the inside of each rod end. I tried lubing with break fluid and had no luck. Then I used WD40 and freezing and it went in with a struggle. All this was done with an arbor press. I would also suggest going to a machine shop to see what better equipment he may have for this job.

nick

[Marko]

emmmm.... I have one stupid question , why not use lithium based grease? its cheap , readily available , you have it in the wheel bearings, it doesnt react with rubber,keeps out moisture, protects the inner side of the metal touching the rubber bushes from ingress of water, doesnt react with paint ,or any automotive material,.... etc... etc... etc...

[nick]

I probably would have tried it had I thought of it. Too late now. The bottom line on this is those bushes are a bitch to install. If the flanges were made smaller it would go a long way to easing the problem. Or if one could develope a sleeve, similar to a piston ring compressor, to guide the bush and keep it from going in unevenly. Onces it starts in straight it's not that hard to push it through. It's getting it started correcly. The lower arm bushes are bigger than the upper ones. I have those on my shelf but I'm not going to attempt them.

nick